A New York and Providence area fan and huckster who won TAFF, was a Worldcon GoH at Heicon, and tended to stand out in fannish circles as a 6'4" tall ex-marine and African-American. (He was often confused with pro-football player Rosie Grier.) Shorter was involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism where he went by the name "Master El of the Two Knives". He was one of the founders of Locus, serving as an assistant editor starting with issue 9.

At Heicon, the formidable Shorter (though no one ever saw him actually be violent) noticed that the Heicon committee had neglected to arrange for seats at the Hugo banquet for fellow GoHsRobert Silverberg and Herbert Franke. Silverberg and Franke were unable to get the committee's attention, whereat Shorter rose up and at full volume brought the issue to everyone's attention. They were quickly seated.

Shorter ran for and won TAFF in 1970, traveling to Europe for the 1970 Worldcon. Because Heicon '70 had announced that their Fan Guest of Honor would be whoever won TAFF, Shorter was thus honored at the convention.